Hypothermic storage and preservation of human pancreatic acinar tissue.

Pancreatic acinar cells rapidly lose their characteristic features when cultured in vitro. No successful cryopreservation methods have been reported. To solve the problem of storing pancreatic acinar material, we found that it could be preserved at nonfreezing, cold temperatures: above the freezing point of cell culture medium (-0.6 degrees C) or at typical refrigeration temperatures (6.0-8.0 degrees C) for up to 7 d. Under the conditions we defined, we determined that there was no significant dedifferentiation and no significant decrease in cell health. Good viability and enzyme content were realized after storage, as determined by growth in culture, histological evaluation, and enzyme content by ELISA (lipase and amylase).